STU HELM’S
12th ANNUAL FOOD FAN AWARDS

PART 3: WINNERS IN ALL CATEGORIES!

It’s time to announce the winners in all categories of the 12th Annual Stoobie Awards!
It’s a long scroll to read them all, but you can do it!

The Categories Are…

Smash Burger • Big Burger • Sandwich • Pizza • Taco • Deep Fried Thing • Hunks of Meat • Breakfast/Brunch • Cafe • Baker/Bakery • Lunch • Small Plate • Entree • Sweet Treat • Edibles • Pop-up • Fancy Dinner • Food Event • Meal • Food Truck • New Restaurant • Chef • Restaurant and Person of the Year.

SMASH BURGER OF THE YEAR

Happy Belly Food Truck – OG & Deluxe Slap Burgers

These “slap” burgers by Happy Belly Food Truck were years in the making, and worth every minute of the wait. I met my friend, Chef Dave Bristol way back in 2013, when he was a cook at Chestnut, making the best Reuben in Asheville at the time. We became friends, and he’s even worked with me and Paddy at Asheville Food Tours as a guide! He’s a great guy, a staunch friend and ally, and truly one of the most talented chefs I’ve met, and it seems like ever since I’ve known him, he’s been talking about launching his own food truck. Eventually, I saw him buy the truck. Then equip the truck. Then develop the menu for the truck. Then launch the truck. Then fucking crush it with his amazing food from the truck! I personally think this guy can cook anything, but his OG and Deluxe Slap Burgers are to fucking die for. I love me some thin, crispy-edged, messy ol’ smash burgers, and these two met every single one of my criteria for fabulousness in the category.

They are special in my opinion, and I’ve honestly never had a burger quite like these. When you see Dave’s Happy Belly Food Truck, try one, or more of these babies for yourself, and hopefully you’ll agree with me that they are worthy of recognition as my 2024 Smash Burger of the Year!

BIG BURGER OF THE YEAR

Sabora Food Truck – Ghost Maker

For several years now, some of Asheville’s most consistently excellent food has been coming from Chef Macario Jimenez and his crew on board the Sabora Food Truck. I’m a big fan of the food as well the people who make it. I admire Chef Macario’s entrepreneurialism as much as his cooking, and I find him to always be friendly, polite, and professional! I only get a chance or two per year to eat off of his food truck, so when I had a chance early in 2024, I pounced and got a Ghost Maker Burger, which is topped with ghost pepper jack cheese, and chipotle mayo, plus lettuce, bacon, and a the coup de grâce hand-breaded friend green tomato. The bun was fresh and soft and grilled to be crispy on outside ridges. The whole thing was super-savory and a little on the spicy side!

Sorry this picture sucks, but the burger DID NOT. That’s not the burger patty you can see in the picture above, but the fried green tomato, which was excellent. The patty in this picture is hidden by melted cheese and the dang ketchup cup. So, you’ll just have to trust me that the burger itself was BIG, and juicy, and looked frickin’ delicious in real life.

Macario is a burger master, and his delicious creations never lets me, or any of his very loyal customers down, and he’s always worthy of a Burger of the Year award, and this year, he got one!

SANDWICH OF THE YEAR

Sabora Food Truck – Cuban Sandwich

Check it out, Y’all! Sabora Food Truck is getting a double win this year, in two of the most hotly contested categories! Yes, their burgers are awesome, and I cannot deny them their due, but perhaps less on my radar until 2024, have been their sandwiches, which of course, turn out to be frickin’ great. I heard from a friend that Chef Macario had read one of my posts in which I wrote that I had come to the conclusion that I just don’t really like Cuban sandwiches, and that I had decided to allow myself to just move on with my life. Well, Macario wanted me to try one of his, so when he showed up in my neighborhood, I got a burger AND a Cuban, and y’know what? It was super delicious and I totally loved it! Thinking about it right now, literally over a year later is making my mouth water.

So, what made the diff? I dunno. It was moist for one thing. I find so many Cubans sandwiches to be dryyyy, and too hard. The bread on this one was crunchy on the outside, soft underneath, and nicely soaked up the juices of the meat, which was pulled pork, with pork loin rather than ham. There was also Swiss cheese, dark ale mustard, and sweet bread & butter pickles, and every element was contributing equally to the awesomeness of this Cuban. It was not only a great sandwich, it totally changed my mind about how delicious and enjoyable a Cubano can be and it’s the winner of my Sandwich of Year award!

PIZZA OF THE YEAR

All Souls Pizza – “Honey”

Whenever Dawn flies home to Asheville from one of her many travels. we usually hit-up All Souls Pizza straight away. Sometimes we go with our nephew, but usually it’s just me and her, either way, we’re getting a “Honey” pizza and that’s that. It’s hot and spicy and sweet and savory and it’s truly one of the greatest pleasures left on planet Earth these days. It has red sauce, aged mozzarella, pepperoni, pepperoncini, and local honey. If you ain’t tried honey on a pepperoni pizza, I’ll wait while you go do that. • __ •

Okay, now you know.

Dawn and I eat and enjoy this pizza so often and so much that the last time we were there, she finally just leveled her eyes at me and said, “You have to give this an award,” to which I replied, “I know.” And now I have! This pizza rules and it is my Pizza of the Year winner! Thank you Chef Brendan Reusing, and the whole awesome crew at All Souls Pizza! You’re our neighborhood pizza joint, and we feel so lucky!

TACO OF THE YEAR

El Centro 828 – Birria

I stumbled on these tacos one day while walking to work from home on a cold rainy day, down South French Broad Ave. I had my eyes focused on the ground, but when I looked up tot cross the street, there they were! They had a couple of big, flashy signs flappin’ in the wind that said “El Centro 828” and “Tacos!” And I was like, “Yesss,” I veered into the parking lot of the Untied Way, where Hatch Coworking has been booking food trucks lately, and there was a tent, and some tables and grills and such all set-up catering style, and one lady busting out a limited menu of tacos, one one teen-aged looking kid ringing them up, and I was 100% up for all of that! I got he birria taco trio to go, walked quickly to the Grove Arcade to sit in the warm, gorgeous interior while I powered down these tacos. What can I tell ya? They were insanely good and I enjoyed them very much. Super high recommends and the winner of my Taco of the Year award!

DEEP FRIED THING OF THE YEAR

Corner Kitchen – Corn Fried Oysters / Throwback Menu

My mom and I had a very nice meal last year at Corner Kitchen, where we were invited to come try the fun, nostalgic “throwback” menu that they released to celebrate their 20th anniversary! The whole meal was very enjoyable, but there were two superstar dishes of note. We started our meal with some of their corny fried oysters, which were “died-and-gone-to-heaven” good. My mom and I were both, like, “mmmmm, these are… fantastic.” They were warm, and crispy-crunchy, and moist, and very flavorful. I described them at the time as being “almost buttery.” which isn’t a word I used to associate with oysters, but now I do. So you could say these oysters changed the way I taste oysters, to this day! Plus they came with a cute salad and super tasty sauces, and everything was perfect and they are my Deep Fried Thing of The Year!

As most of us know, Corner Kitchen was heavily damaged, but not completely destroyed by the hurricane floods. They are rebuilding, they will be back, and when they are, I will be there, showing some love. I hope you will be too. For now I just have the pictures and memories from this Throwback Menu meal, which also had some great hunks of meat involved…

HUNKS OF MEAT OF THE YEAR

Corner Kitchen – “Banderilla” / Throwback Menu

That’s right! Not one, but TWO Stoobie Awards for this outstanding meal at Corner Kitchen! I even brought back an old category that I thought might never see the light again, but these Banderilla spiced beef skewers were so incredibly tender and delicious, that I just had to dust the off the ol’ Hunks of Meat of the Year award!

Again, my mother and I were sharing this meal, and if I my mother is anything like me (hint: She’s exactly like me!) I know that she was wanting them all to herself! Ha ha! They were so tender and moist, they came right off the skewers and were silky smooth with crunchy bits of sear. The Mediterranean spices were very flavorful and punchy, and the salad and sauces were perfect accouterment! Thank you, Corner Kitchen, for this wonderful meal and dining experience! Good luck with your rebuild and a speedy recovery! I know you loyal customers can’t wait to get back and and support you!♥ Asheville loves Corner Kitchen! ♥

BREAKFAST / BRUNCH OF THE YEAR

The Blackbird – Corned Beef Hash

On election day 2024, I treated my acute anxiety with a calorie infusion! 😂😂😂 After I voted, I walked downtown and since it was still pretty early, I discovered that not a lot had opened yet. Then I spied some life inside of The Blackbird restaurant on Biltmore Ave, and remembered how ding dang goood it was the last time Paddy and I ate there. So I went in and sat down and ordered something that I had food-envy for the previous time with Paddy. I had gotten the Steak ‘n’ Eggs that time, which were great, but he got the Corned Beef Hash, which just looked fantastic! So, yeah, I got it with two eggs over medium, and it was simply one the best fucking plates of breakfast food I had ever eaten in my life, not even kidding. You gotta already like corned beef hash in order to dig this one, so if you don’t, you won’t, but I do, and I sure as fuck did! A lot. It was all cooked perfectly — like to death — and was so savory and warm and and crispy and soft and eggy and comforting to the Nth degree! Super high recommends for this one. It’s my Breakfast of the Year winner, and I gotta go back and get it again for myself ASAP! I’m having food panic that it won’t be on the menu when I go back. Stay tuned.

Thanks Chef Mike Reppert and the Blackbird crew! I will also never forget that Y’all gave away free hot meals and supplies to whoever needed them in the days & weeks following the storm. ❤️❤️❤️

CAFE OF THE YEAR

Old Europe – Est. 1994

I visited Old Europe Pastries more than ANY OTHER venue last year, and the year before last year, and I probably the year before that, and I’m on track to di it again this year too. It’s the oldest cafe in Asheville, and I’ve been to it hundreds of times. It was the first cafe I visited when I moved yo Asheville in 2005, and I’ve followed it from it’s original location at Battery Park Ave in the Flat Iron Building, to the corner of N. Lexington & Walnut, to its initial location on Broadway, to its current location on Broadway, where they are kicking so much ass. First of all, the food and coffee are top notch. The eclairs, the key lime pie, and the french creamy are three of my forever-favorites of downtown, and the breakfast pastries (see cheese danish below! O _ O ) are my jam. The owner, Chef Melinda Vitro is a power house, the staff and service are friendly and homey, and the classic cafe atmosphere is unmatched in Asheville. This place is ALWAYS on my top ten list of recommendations in downtown Asheville, but for what they did in 2024 in particular, they are my Cafe of the Year!

In the weeks after the hurricane, I walked mile after mile after mile in downtown, scoping out the free food and provisions that were available to the public and posting as much of that info as I could for my Facebook following. Here are a couple posts that I made about Old Europe…

DOWNTOWN UPDATE, Wednesday, October 9, 2024, Asheville, North Carolina: The always awesome folks at Old Europe Pastries have some provisions, including pet food, and they are giving away hot coffee and other beverages for free. Whether it’s a snowstorm, or a 30,000 year hurricane, Chef Melinda and the crew at Old Europe have ALWAYS been there for us. ❤️

DOWNTOWN UPDATE: Wednesday, October 16th, 2024, Asheville, NC. Today is the first day of “normal” business in downtown Asheville, and one of the signs that commerce is coming back to life is the aroma of fresh coffee and the sight of delicious treats at Old Europe Pastries on Broadway. Chef Melinda and her crew were there for us when the hurricane hit, giving away free coffee and provisions, from water to pet food, for days on end. Asking nothing in return, except maybe some love on Google reviews. Now it’s our turn to support them in every way possible! So go buy a cappuccino, a piece of cake, some hot apple cider, a glass of champagne even!

I know that we all have a long road ahead of us yet, and our restaurants, cafés, and retail businesses also have a tough slog to dig out of the economic hole that the hurricane put us all in, so if you can, please support Old Europe, and all of our beloved independent businesses.

BAKER/BAKERY OF THE YEAR

Back Porch Baking Co. – Vegan Wholesale Baked Goods

One of Asheville’s culinary pioneers, Chef Hayette Bouras has been impressing the shit out of me for over a decade, and never more so than right now. When I first started writing about food for Ashvegas back in 2015, she was working for the West Village Market & Deli, an invited me in to taste her awesome soups and stews, along with the deli sandwiches. A decade later she seems to have really found her groove in my opinion by starting her own vegan wholesale bakery called Back Porch Baking Co. Y’all… I’m not vegan. You may have noticed. Buhhht, I am more than willing to eat anything delicious whether it’s made out of dead animals or not! So, when I started noticing a bunch of really tasty baked goods showing up in my usual cafes, I didn’t care that they were vegan, I just started eating them, and loving them, and when the baristas told me that these yummy, decadent pastries were from Back Porch Baking Co., I knew my old friend Chef Hayette was working her magic again! Those soups were great back in the day, and so are these baked goods!

I feel like these pastries are not only delicious, but they are somehow adding points to the “good” column in my karma tally. So, for a lifetime of great cooking, for staying local and loyal to Asheville, for keeping it real with vegan eats for everyone, and for possibly saving my soul, just a li’l bit, Chef Hayette’s Back Porch Baking Co. is my Bakery of the Year!

LUNCH OF THE YEAR

Modesto – 1/2 Lobster w/ Angel Hair Pasta

The picture says it all. The picture of my friend Scott’s hand gripping the table to keep himself from falling off his chair when our meal arrived. Holy… fuck. One day, my other friend Chef Hector Diaz from Modesto takes me by the arm, and starts enthusiastically pitching me an $18 half lobster for lunch, exclaiming assertively, “I got too many lobster from my fish guy! He says, ‘keep them, no extra charge,’ I pass my savings on to you, to my customers!” I somehow instantly roped good ol’ Scott into joining me, and we attacked these plates of awesomeness like we were animals, and somehow ended up crushing them. Plus soup, salad, and dessert. Good gawd. Y’all. I die now.

But that’s not all! I also got an awesome meatloaf for lunch at Modesto one day, and an insane crab cake encrusted monkfish another day, but this 1/2 lobster with the roe and tomalley baked on top, and a side perfectly cooked angel hair past with crazy good sauce… yeah, no, even among Hectors’s exquisite cooking, it’s a stand out and it’s my Lunch of the Year winner, hands down. Thanks, Chef!

SMALL PLATE OF THE YEAR

Contrada – Sugar Snap Peas w/ Buttermilk

Sounds simple. Was simple. Blew our fucking minds. It was fresh sugar snap peas, fresh cucumber, and fresh mint leafs (torn not chopped), with olive oil and buttermilk and it was truly one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life. This is the kind of dish that I know I’ll be thinking about years from now, and when I do, I’ll be like, “What the fuck made it so good?” I dunno, I’m not a chef, I’m just a dumb guy who loves food and loved this weird little plate of green stuff in milk, and I’m giving it my Small Plate of the Year award because it was awesome.

Thank you, Chef Brian Canipelli and the whole crew at Cucina 24 and Contrada for always providing the best takes on everything, and being a rock solid part of Asheville’s food scene since 2008! That’s a long time. We appreciate you. _/||\_

ENTREE OF THE YEAR

The Lobster Trap – Cioppino

So, my mom and I went to The Lobster Trap and we had a wonderful time. She got to meet Chef Mike McCarty, one of the nicest people you’ll ever know, and he even took some extra time to stay at our table, and chat with her, which she loved. She also got to witness me hugging and crying with one of my friends on staff there whom I hadn’t seen since the storm hit, and she was very touched by our interaction. So, this meal was chock full of some pretty special small-town heart-warmy goodness before the food even showed up! And then the food showed up! Gah, lobster roll perfection, and a super dank and delicious cioppino with grilled baguette.

Cioppino is a flavorful fish stew developed in the 1800’s by Italian, Spanish and Portuguese sailors and immigrants settling into the San Fransisco Bay area. It’s typically made with the “catch of the day,” and can include crab, clams, prawn, & muscles, as well as finned fish, all in a very dank tomato broth. Dawn makes it every Christmas, so there’s a particular fondness for it in our family, and this cioppino was excellent! The broth was “mmmmmmmmm“-worthy, so my mom and I torn in and started dippin’ bread and crackin’ shells, with juice flyin’ everywhere, and we were soon up to our elbows in tomato broth and drawn butter. We made short if messy work of this food, and enjoyed every bite on several levels, not the least of which were nostalgia, familia, and community. I’m telling you what, any time I have a great time, a memorable time, at a restaurant with my mom, and we both love every bite of the food, it’s a going to be a top contender for awards at the end of the year, and this cioppino is going down in the memory banks as my favorite Entree of the Year!

SWEET TREAT OF THE YEAR

Sweets & Seats – Pistachio Paris Brest

Okay, I like donuts and this thing is shaped like a donut, so I kinda bought it on whim, and then it turned out to be dreamy as fuck, and it’s been haunting my thoughts ever since. Basically, I went into Sweets and Seats one day, scanned the case, spied the pistachio Paris-Brest, and it looked pretty good in the case, so I got it, and was wondering if I had the best choice (there ‘s a LOT of tasty stuff in that case!) but when I tucked into it, it totally destroyed all my expectations, and was truly one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. Since I had never heard of a Paris-Brest, I looked it up, and it’s a French dessert made of choux pastry and a typically praline flavored cream, thought this pistachio, which I love in any form. I had also never heard of choux pastry, so I had to look that up too. Choux pastry, or pâte à choux, is just the French word for a pastry dough made with butter, water, flour and eggs that is typically used for eclairs, profiteroles, and yes, Paris-Brest! So, this thing was not only super delicious, and creamy, and awesome, but it taught me new things. I eat a lot of sweets every year, and of all those sweets this Paris-Brest is my Sweet Treat of the Year! Thanks you, Chef Kanas Lam for all of the amazing pastries you provide for your regular customers, of which I am one!

Trying so hard this whole time to get to the end of this and not make a joke about breasts… GOD DAMIN IT! Almost.

EDIBLES OF THE YEAR

Infuso – Cuisine Elevated

One Saturday evening last year, I was offered a very unique opportunity to attend a small, private, classic, 8-course dinner, with a twist. By classic I mean it started with soup, salad, and entree, then there was a palate cleansing sorbet course in the middle, followed by a cheese plate, then the main dish, a small plate, and finally dessert. The twist was that some part of every course was infused with THC, and/or CBD. The menu listed exactly how many mgs was in each dish. By the end of the night, I had consumed 13 mgs of THC and 22 of CBD. The dinner was hosted, prepared and served by Infuso, aka local husband and wife team Chefs Griffin & Katherine Riffe, the venue was The Green Room – Asheville, the DJ was Murkury, the interactive art was by Kitty Savage and the whole experience was unique, mellow, and super delicious. Each dish came out one at a time, so that the hot food was still hot when we ate it, which made a really big difference in terms of enjoyment! I’ve attended more than a few ticketed dinners where every dish was stone cold because they were all plated at the same time, then delivered. My respect for the two young chefs for figuring it out! Every course was really tasty, but the standout dishes for me were: The braised short rib which was meaty & tender, it was cooked perfectly, was very dank in flavor & served with taters and root veg; The chilled soba which was soft, silky, tasty, & refreshing; And the pot du crème was rich, creamy, plentiful, and super delicious! Also a shout out to the pineberry sorbet which was resting in a small pool of sweet cream. YUM! So, the food was perfect, let alone the fact that it was infused, which is just such a cool, added bonus, and a cutting edge way to work with THC and CBD, which is why this whole meal and concept is my Edibles of the Year winner!

But was I high? Well, I had pre-gamed before dinner, and I may have taken a puff or two during and after dinner, but all that THC & CBD infused food definitely didn’t make me feel *less* high! 😂😂😂

POP-UP OF THE YEAR

Botanist & Barrel – Mera Brothers Oysters Pop-Up

One of my favorite spaces in downtown Asheville is the Botanist & Barrel Tasting Bar + Bottle Shop on Broadway, the hard cider bar and marketplace. Of course, I don’t go there for hard cider, because that would be bad, but I go for the food, the atmosphere, to support the owners, and awesome people who work there, and whenever possible, I go for their pop-ups! They’re very popular and the space is small, so I don’t always get there in time to get a seat, but when I do, I feel lucky! One day I was lucky enough to grab a tiny table for the Mera Brothers Oysters pop-up. I ordered three raw oysters , and three prepared oysters. The raw oysters were excellent, I loved them and could have eaten a dozen or more no problem. I loved the prepared oysters even more! They were lightly broiled, with a compound chipotle butter and they were the stuff that dreams are made of. Like, they changed my thoughts about butter and oysters and broiling and the possibilities seemed kinda endless. So this oyster pop-up was more than just a great bite, but was somewhat life altering in a way, and that’s part of why it is the Pop-Up of The Year!

About the Mera Brothers…

“We are three hard-working brothers with different skills and a dream to produce the best local oysters NC coastal waters have to offer. We believe that great-tasting oysters happen through sustainable mariculture and great attention to detail. We are a growing company and constantly expanding our reach to new restaurants in NC and beyond.”

FANCY MEAL OF THE YEAR

Mëhfil – Shahi Daawat / The Royal Feast

Prior to the hurricane I was fortunate enough to attend a totally unique and very delicious multiple course “Shahi Daawat” aka “Royal Feast” at Mëhfil Indian Restaurant located on Biltmore Ave in downtown Asheville. It was like no other dinner I have ever attended, not just because almost none of the food was previously known to me, but because there were no plates involved, just tiny bowls, ramekins, and fresh banana leaves. Straight-up. Banana leaves were spread out on every table, and the much food was served by the ladleful, or tong-full, at a time directly onto the fresh banana leaves. This whole concept was a brand new one to me, and at first, after seeing the tiny size of each serving, I was thinking to myself, “these wee little portions ain’t gonna to fill me up,” but of course, Mëhfil NEVER lets me down, and the small servings added up and up and up, and I was totally stuffed by the end! The entire experience, from the fact that I was randomly seated with one of my favorite people, to the music, the decor, the interludes of information between bites, made this a wonderful evening, and my choice for Fancy Meal of the Year!

I know that Mëhfil has more Shahi Daawat dinners planned for 2025, so follow them on social media to stay informed about the next one! I want to thank my good friend and co-owner Raj for inviting me to this one, and many thanks to Chef Prafulla Das and his kitchen crew for preparing such a expansive and sumptuous feast!

FOOD EVENT OF THE YEAR

Bite Me Asheville – The Cooking Competition

I was honored to be invited to attend the first ever Bite Me Asheville event, and judge The Cooking Competition in August of 2024, and it was super fun and exciting! It was a “Chopped” style mystery basket throw down, with four competing teams. The first two teams went head to head, and a winner was selected by the judges. Then the next two teams went head to head and another winner emerged. And finally the two winning teams faced off against each other, and one of them took home gold and glory! (And $1,000!)

Event organizers Alex and Sarah get ready for the throw down!

There were cameras and a large screen TV and a live audience, and a timer ticking, and it was pretty danged exciting! We’ve had throw downs in the past — at the ol’ Wine & Food Festival, and the annual FRS warehouse parties, but this one was slick, and real, and there was more than just honor on the line, there was actual money-money!

The mystery ingredients along the way included a chicken leg, sunflower butter, broccoli chips, pork loin, and a fruit cup among other things. Each team had about 45 mins to plan, cook and plate their dishes. All four teams did a great job and their dishes were very tasty! When it came down to it, the judging was tight, but in the end there was only one winner, and they crushed it!

Adjacent to experts! The other judges L-R: Chef Ashleigh Shanti, Chef Stephen Hertz, Call Me Candace and Jefferson Ellison

The final round was the most exciting and wild in terms of the ingredients which included cow’s liver and black licorice candy! When all the smoke had cleared and the knives were put away, it was Team Thai Pearl Restaurant holding the big paycheck!

They knocked it out of the park with their dish, which did not shy away from the ingredients, and but worked with them deftly, to produce a dish that I actually loved, and have thought about many times since. I think my exact words at the time were, “Put this on the menu please!” None of the judges could deny that Chef Sujitra Chubthaisong aka Chef May and her sister/sous chef exceeded all expectations with very difficult ingredients.

This event was the real deal, y’all. A real throw down, in an actual competition kitchen, with a fare amount of intimate theater-style seating, and an overhead camera view of the working chefs being shown in HD glory for all to clearly see. It was great, and not fer nuthin’, the food was real good too!

So, for all those reasons it is my Food Event of the Year! Thanks to all the organizers, competitors, audience members, and my fellow judges for making this one something truly special.

MEAL OF THE YEAR

Table – Dinner on the Patio

Dawn & I had an epic meal and excellent all-around experience at Table one Sunday back in August, and at the time I told her, and all of you, that it was an instant contender for Meal of the Year, and now her we are six months late, and boom! Meal of the Year! Everything about the experience was spot on. We were seated by request on the cute little patio that they built on the side a few years ago. We hadn’t dined there yet, so this was a new and fun setting for sure. Service was perfect and super professional, and we were excited to order! We started with melon & ham, which is one of our all-time favorite dishes in general, and this version using country ham was perfect! Next we had some delicious raw oysters, with house mignonette. For real, can these please be fed to me by multiple cherubs with tiny spoons forever & ever? The kitchen sent out two dishes, both incredibly tasty and fresh: The tomato tartine was like the world’s greatest open-faced tomato sandwich, and the spicy shrimp and peanuts was a favorite of Dawn in particular. For our main, we got the half roasted chicken, and gah… it was really frickin’ good, Y’all. The chicken was cooked perfectly and cut into manageable parts, and the gravy was to die for. Cherubs! Bring me buckets of this gravy! In addition to the food, service, and atmosphere being excellent, Dawn got great advice about which drinks to order with the food. It was a perfect downtown Asheville eating experience on every level.

Thanks, Chefs Sessoms, Rumley, and Smedley, as well as my friend Nathan, and our server Malcom for this wonderful evening. Table has been a favorite of mine and Dawn’s for many years, and this isn’t their first Stoobie, but it will be their last, as this is my final year of doing the Food Fan Awards. I’m putting the tradition to bed, after 12 years, but I’ll get to that later. Now let’s do the last five categories…

FOOD TRUCK OF THE YEAR

Yalla – Mediterranean Street Food

Once again, in our hour of need, the food makers were there for us, including the trucks. On October 2nd, as I walked and walked and walked around downtown, kind of shell shocked by the news unveiling around us of just how tragically serious the shit was, I spied Yalla food truck parked at the LaZoom Tours HQ. The food was free, with donations accepted. I let people know via social media, and the next day, I went back and bought some delicious dolmas, and took a picture of someone else’s chicken shawarma, which looked and smelled delicious. They said they’d be there every day for the foreseeable future, so I went back a few days later, and had a super delicious and healthy chicken shawarma pita, and ya’ll… this hot, fresh, delicious food was so incredibly welcome at the time. They were super nice people, giving away great food during an acute crisis, as well as for weeks afterward, to anyone who needed it. I will *never* forget that and they are my Food Truck of the Year. ❤️

I know that Yalla wasn’t the only food truck doing this during the hardest of times after the storm, and I want to thank each and every one of you. You’re all heroes in my book.

NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

Luminosa – Flat Iron Hotel

If you ain’t seen it yet, Luminosa is beautiful, Y’all. It’s the shiny new, but somehow weirdly vintage feeling, restaurant on the first floor of the rehabbed and re-did dusty old Flat Iron Building, now the Flat Iron Hotel. When you go, ask if you can sit in the pointy room! It’s very cool. The interior design, the furnishings, lighting and decor are all stylish and lush. The service is professional to the highest degree, without being stodgy or stiff. The open kitchen is warm, friendly, and inviting. The bar is tight, but cozy, and a great place to grab a quick splash before dinner, or a bite & a beverage in between work and home. The menu is a strange but perfect blend of rustic Italian and Appalachian ingredients, techniques, and dishes. Chef Graham House and his crew were already among our favorites, and it looks like they’ve found a wonderful home at Luminoso, which already has a great reputation with local eaters, and is my New Restaurant of the Year winner!

For now Luminosa has paused doing brunch, but they told me they would be starting it up again soon, which made me really happy ! Dawn and I went there for brunch on my birthday in 2024, and from that one meal came a Sweet Treat of the Year nomination for the orange ricotta cruffin, a Breakfast of the Year nomination for the steak ‘n’ eggs, a meal of the Year nomination fo the whole dang thing, and of course it solidified their win in this category for New Restaurant of the Year.

CHEF OF THE YEAR

Chef Julie Allen et al – Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ

I first met Chef Julie Allen from Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ just a couple of years ago, but in that short time I’ve come to know her as a staunch individual with a great sense of humor; a strong person with a big heart &good soul; and a dedicated employee with an all-but-unlimited capacity for hard work. And that’s what I knew about her BEFORE the storm hit! After it hit, Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ became ground zero for World Central Kitchen and other food aid efforts that started the moment things got bad and continued day after day for weeks on end and continues to this day. The whole Bear’s team pulled together with WCK and displayed herculean tenacity and endless energy reserves to help provide thousands and thousands of free, hot meals, and because it was from Bear’s the meals were *delicious* and comforting, just when we needed it most! It was a matter of survival for no small number of people, and I will never forget Chef Julie, and all the folks at Bear’s SmokeHouse BBQ for what they did and how they did it. I’m both humbled and proud to give my Chef of the Year to Julie Allen, who kicks so much ass herself, but also to every single member of the kitchen team at Bear’s and WCK who worked long hours doing tough work, and to the chefs and cooks all over WNC who helped friends, family, neighbors and strangers alike get through this incredibly difficult time. If I could name you all, I would! You are all heroic figures in my eyes.

Chef Julie once told me that she loved making HUGE amounts of things, like tubs of potato salad and massive pots of baked beans and what not, but by the time I caught up with her tending the giant mac ‘n’ cheese cookers a number of weeks into the hurricane relief, even she admitted that it was too much, and she was burning out on big batches. Yet she soldiered on. I hope she’s at home right now, cooking for two.Or better yet, someone else is cooking for her.

Thank you, Chef Julie, you will forever symbolize the hard working chefs and cooks who stepped up during that insane time in Asheville to me. If I could commission a statue to commemorate the moment, it would be you, riding a bear, with a huge spoon in one hand, and a giant bag of hot mac ‘n’ cheese in the other, screaming into the wind.

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR

Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ – Asheville, WNC

I was all alone when the hurricane hit. Dawn was in Florida (soon to be blasted by hurricane Milton) and my neighbors had all bugged-out. I had water and some provisions stored up at home, I have a gas stove, so I could make coffee, and I had plenty of weed, so I was hoping to wait it out. Isolated on my hill, with no TV or radio, I had no clue how bad it was, until I wandered zombie-like to the South Slope, because I had heard that there were people gathering at Bear’s smokehouse BBQ. When I got there I found an organized if somewhat frenzied and chaotic triage operation of cooking & packaging fresh hot food, and either handing it directly to those who could get there, or delivering it to those who couldn’t. A huge line formed down the street that seemed to be never-ending. I snapped on some gloves and scooped food into plastic containers for a few hours. It was intense. I did it for one day. The folks at Bear’s, and World Central Kitchen did it every day, day after day, for weeks and weeks, and they are STILL doing it as I write this today in late January!

TIMELINE: The storm hit on the night of September 26, 2024. Bear’s started serving free food every day to those in need on Sept 28, and became a field kitchen for World Central Kitchen on Oct 3. Bear’s also partnered with the Red Cross for their meal distribution for a month, and together the three entities have provided approximately 1.5 million meals. WCK is still here in Asheville and will be here working with Bear’s through the end of March.

So many of our local restaurants helped tremendously in the days and weeks after the hurricane. My list of nominees for this category was both long and incomplete. I personally witnessed Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ spring into action with my own eyes, I saw the enormity of their efforts, I benefited from their food myself at a time when I couldn’t cook at home, I felt the stress & saw the emotional sacrifices that my friends who work at Bear’s made to help their community, and the people of WNC, I saw the 1,000 yard stare in their eyes. This city and all of its citizens should honor this restaurant in some official way that I can’t even fathom, but the very least that I can do is to recognize them with my own little awards, and name them as my Restaurant of the Year! Thank you, Bear’s, from all of us.

PERSON/PEOPLE OF THE YEAR

Cheryl Antoncic – Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, Asheville

I’ve only met the owner of Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ Cheryl Antoncic a time or two, and one of those times was right before the hurricane hit, when she was getting all jazzed up about a fundraising event she was organizing, and my impression of her was of someone who is very enthusiastic about helping other people. Not too long afterward, the hurricane hit, destroying so much of Western North Carolina, and Cheryl starting helping people in a huge way. The biggest way possible. Cheryl and her team at Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, and eventually hundreds of volunteers from the community and World Central Kitchen literally kept people alive and gave us hope at a time when life was uncertain and hope was scarce. She was a powerful force for good at a really bad time. When circumstances pushed us to our limits, Cheryll and her team pushed back, and made space for food, comfort, optimism, camaraderie, empowerment, and in the simplest terms possible, she gave us something to eat and something to do when we needed those things most. As I said I’ve only met her briefly in person, but Cheryll seems like a bad-ass, like someone who takes no shit from no body. She’s obviously not afraid of hard work, and really knows how to get things done. And while she might have callouses on her hands, she definitely has none on her heart. I think that Cheryl Antonicic was THEE hero we needed when we needed one, and she’s my Person of the Year!

So many people in the food & beverage industry deserve shoutouts and awards. Like in so many other categories, my list of nominees for this one was long, but it was far from comprehensive. As I walked around downtown after the hurricane, I saw the small enclaves of helpers, working hard completely under the radar, collecting and distributing goods, trucking them out to hard hit areas, using ATVs to get them where the roads were gone. I saw them setting up free water stations, then paying out the ass for cubes and drums of potable water, and working with the health department to get their temporary “purple permits” so that they could cook and clean and serve the public for FREE until Ben Woody and his tireless team got the water back on and safe to drink. I saw incredible things. Good things! Yes, yes, I saw really bad things too. I live within walking distance of the RAD, so I saw that in person the morning after, but when I ventured downtown in the days and the weeks following the disaster, I saw so many good things. Good people. Good food. Good community. And I still see it every day. Please visit downtown and show your love and gratitude for the folks who took us in their warm embrace and gave us the basic necessities of life when we were fucking helpless.

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To see all nominees from 2024 as well as past nominees & winners going all the way back to 2013, please check the archives HERE.

GOODBYE TO THE STOOBIES!

That’s right, after twelve years, it’s time to put the ol’ Food Fan Awards, aka The Stoobies to bed. This is my last year of doing them, and you know what, it’s a good year to go out on, because I don’t know if I could ever find any more stalwart and worthy people for awards and accolades of any kind from me or anyone else than the people who saw us through 2024. Holy fuck, Y’all. IT SUCKED!!! And we ain’t out of the soup yet, so please follow me and interact with me on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and especially Substack so that we can all continue to support the wonderful people in our unique and resilient food scene, and keep it local! I love you WNC!

From left: Chef Jacob Sessoms of Table; Chef William Dissen, The Market Place; Chef Steven Goff, Standard Foods; Chef Katie Button, Curate; Chef Joe Scully, Chestnut and Corner Kitchen; Stu Helm; Chef John Fleer, Rhubarb; Chef Karen Donatelli, Donatelli Bakery; Chef Peter Pollay, Posana Cafe; and Chef Matt Dawes, Bull & Beggar./ Photo by STEWART O’SHIELDS for ASHVEGAS.COM

Stu Helm is an artist, writer, and food tour guide living in Asheville, NC. As a frequent diner at local restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and the like, his tastes run from hot dogs and mac ‘n’ cheese, to haute cuisine, and his opinions are based on a lifetime of experience. He began writing about food strictly to amuse his friends on Facebook.

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